iatrogenic

adjective

iat·​ro·​gen·​ic (ˌ)ī-ˌa-trə-ˈje-nik 

: induced unintentionally by a physician or surgeon or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures

iatrogenic illness

iatrogenic injury to a nerve

… obtaining blood from humans is an invasive procedure with inherent risks to the patient such as pain at the needle site and the increased likelihood of acquiring an iatrogenic infection.

—Tony K. L. Kiang and Mary H. H. Ensom

iatrogenically

(ˌ)ī-ˌa-trə-ˈje-ni-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

iatrogenically induced illness

Examples of iatrogenic in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The study consisted of six patients: five patients were clinically diagnosed with probable sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob and one patient was clinically diagnosed with iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. —William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 9 June 2022

Because iatrogenic botulism is relatively rare, the mortality rate is unclear. —Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 16 Mar. 2023

In the past, such iatrogenic botulism clusters have been linked to counterfeit toxin products, as was the case in an outbreak in Egypt in 2017. —Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 16 Mar. 2023

The best way to reduce these iatrogenic, sometimes devastating, events is communication and education. —Ncbi Rofl, Discover Magazine, 12 June 2012

There are four types of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, genetic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. —William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 9 June 2022

Injury or illness caused by the healer is called iatrogenic harm. —Stephan Landsman, STAT, 6 Aug. 2021

If Whitaker is right, modern psychiatry, together with the pharmaceutical industry, has inflicted iatrogenic harm on millions of people. —John Horgan, Scientific American, 17 Oct. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Greek iātro-, combining form of iātrós "physician, healer" + -genic — more at -iatry

First Known Use

1920, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

iatrogenic

adjective

iat·​ro·​gen·​ic (ˌ)ī-ˌa-trə-ˈjen-ik also (ˌ)ē- 

: induced unintentionally by a physician or surgeon or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures

iatrogenic nosocomial infection

iatrogenic nerve injury

"Iatrogenic events" were defined using standard criteria as an illness resulting from a diagnostic procedure or therapeutic intervention or any harmful occurrence that was not a natural consequence of the patient's underlying illness (and not present at hospital admission).

—Sharon K. Inouye et al., The Journal of the American Medical Association

iatrogenically

-ˈjen-i-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

iatrogenically induced complications

iatrogenicity

-jə-ˈnis-ət-ē 

noun

plural iatrogenicities